Overview
- Emergency services discovered the two brothers, aged 2 and 4, unresponsive inside their mother's parked family car after a call received around 13:10–13:20 on Monday; resuscitation attempts failed and both children were declared dead at the scene.
- The Parquet of Carpentras ordered autopsies at the medico‑legal institute in Nîmes and reported on June 23 that death from dehydration and prolonged exposure to excessive heat is the likely cause pending complementary laboratory analyses.
- A flagrante inquiry for involuntary manslaughter was opened by prosecutors and investigators have taken witness statements, including a statement from the 33‑year‑old mother who said the children entered and became locked in the vehicle without her knowledge.
- The deaths occurred during an exceptional heatwave that pushed local temperatures toward 39–40°C and can raise an enclosed car's interior to well over 60°C, a rapid rise that makes very young children especially vulnerable to fatal hyperthermia.
- Police scientific teams and forensic experts continue to reconstruct the timeline and circumstances while the town reels from the tragedy and officials urge heightened vigilance for children in vehicles during extreme heat.